PSC Golf from The Growling Swan
Monday, May 30, Silky Oak – Stableford
We had 11 enthusiastic golfers queuing up to take on Silky Oak and as per usual the staff efficiency at the venue was superb, with speedy a check in and registration processing.
We headed to the first tee and the decision was made to take this course on from the front tees, and the correct decision was made. As daunting as it is, the first water carry did not claim that many victims (2) but the sixteenth, well that’s another story. Out of the 11 attempts maybe 9 cleared the water. What a hole!
Silky Oak is a delight to play with its large fairways and plenty of water carrying hazards, strategically placed but still offering the golfer plenty of chances to hit mown grass. With five par 3’s, nine par 4’s and four par 5’s it is a very interesting course and is still under development.
With the small field that we had, we offered all novelty prizes and first & second only in the one flight. There were some handy scores but it was left to the two that went to the count back, Colin Stielow pipping Mark Stapleton for the top result. Both golfers obtained 42 points, which was a very good score for this tough but fair course.
1st Colin Stielow (30) 42pts
2nd Mark Stapleton (20) 42pts
Near Pins: Ebrahim (2), Martin Todd, Colin Stielow.
Long Putts: Mark Stapelton, Niall Stuart
Thursday, June 2, Burapha – Stableford
With rain forecast, 19 starters headed out to Burapha and played A and B nines off the white tees. Many of us hadn’t ventured to Burapha for quite some time, but the course was presented in fantastic condition and is a welcome inclusion onto the Growling Swan golfing roster. The low season rates are now quite reasonable.
With Burapha having the rule of compulsory carts this may have forced some of our regulars to choose other options. Speaking on carts – if you don’t want to do a lot of walking make sure you get a Red Flag on your cart as one of our foursome found out. Not mentioning any names (our host), we all thought we were going to have to perform CPR on him after about 11 holes but it was good exercise for you Peter.
The greens were true and with lush fairways it was a solid test for us all but some great scores were recorded. Winning the day and after surviving a steward’s inquiry, Mark (the viper) Stapleton made it back to back podium visits with an excellent 40 points. Coming in second and winning a count back on 39 points was Ian Parry, with third going to Ashley Taylor. The next two places were again decided by a count back with 3 players on 38 points; fourth place went to Steve Younger, fifth to Graham Rice and Peter Bye just missed out.
1st Mark Stapleton (20) 40pts
2nd Ian Parry (11) 39pts
3rd Ashley Taylor (15) 39pts
4th Steve Younger (13) 38pts
5th Graham Rice (13) 38pts
Near Pins: A3 – Steve Younger, A6 – Steve Younger, B3 – Lindsay Slender, B8 – Mark Stapleton.
Long Putts: A9 – Shane Young, B9 – Peter Bye
Note: The Growling Swan is a friendly golf outlet and caters for and encourages all golfer’s male and female to have a hit at any of our weekly outings. We generally play Mondays and Thursdays at one of the many fine golf courses in and around Pattaya. Please contact Peter Grey if you are interested on 0861 503086.
The Growling Swan also caters to the bowls enthusiasts. Bus transport departs the GS on Sundays at 10am for open grass bowling at The Retreat. The cost including return bus transport, bowling fees and a hot lunch is about 400 baht, so great value for a day out!
